113.3 Organizational Entities ELM53

113.3 Organizational Entities

Organization entities include the following:

a. Executive vice president organization — an organizational entity in Headquarters that exercises managerial and directive control over one or more vice president organizations or serves as a member of the senior management team. b. Vice president organization — an organizational entity in Headquarters with responsibility for major heterogeneous functions having service�wide impact. c. Headquarters unit — an organizational entity in Headquarters managed by an executive and subordinate to a vice president or a manager with responsibility for one or more major homogeneous functions having service-wide impact. d. Headquarters-related field unit — an organizational entity that performs a major function or group of minor functions, reports directly to a Headquarters manager, and resides outside the Headquarters building. e. Service center — an organizational entity that reports directly to a manager at Headquarters and resides outside the Headquarters building. f. Service office — an organizational entity that performs an activity or group of activities, usually to support a service center. g. Area office — an organizational entity that has responsibility within a specified geographical area for major heterogeneous functions having area-wide impact. These functions include oversight of:
(1) Subordinate districts, (2) Processing and distribution centers, (3) Network distribution centers, (4) Airport mail centers, (5) International service centers, and (6) Remote encoding centers. h. District office — an organizational entity subordinate to an area, with responsibility for major heterogeneous functions having district-wide impact, including oversight of subordinate Post Offices™ and delivery distribution centers. i. Processing and distribution center (P&DC) — an organizational entity, subordinate to an area, with significant responsibility for the processing and distribution of mail for a geographic area. A P&DC may have one or more reporting facilities. j. Processing and distribution facility (P&DF) — an organizational entity, generally subordinate to a P&DC, that has responsibility for the processing and distribution of mail for a geographic area. k. Network distribution center (NDC) — an organizational entity, generally subordinate to an area, within a three-tier system of distribution of Standard Mail, periodicals, and packages. Some NDCs serve as consolidation points for truckload volumes. l. Surface transfer center (STC) — an organizational entity, generally subordinate to an area, designed to distribute, dispatch, consolidate, and transfer First-Class Mail®, Priority Mail®, and periodicals within a specialized surface transportation network. m. Logistics and distribution center (L&DC) — an organizational entity, generally subordinate to a district, engaged in the receipt, unloading, sorting, loading, dispatch, and transportation of a variety of mail products for a designated service area. n. Remote encoding center (REC) — an organizational entity, generally subordinate to an area, that processes video images of partially resolved or script letter mail for the P&DCs. o. International service center (ISC) — an organizational entity that distributes and dispatches international mail received from a designated service area to specific foreign countries or to gateway exchange offices. p. Post Office — an organizational entity subordinate to a district, and perhaps also an administrative Post Office, managed by a Postmaster, with responsibility for:
(1) Customer services, (2) Local delivery, (3) The receipt and dispatch of all classes of mail, and (4) In some instances, processing and distribution of mail for other Post Offices in the surrounding geographic area. A Postmaster may be responsible for the operation of more than one facility, and duties may be performed by designated subordinate personnel at the direction of the Postmaster, including when the Postmaster is not physically present. q. Remotely Managed Post Office (RMPO) — a Post Office that:
(1) Offers part-time window service hours, (2) Is staffed by a Postal Service employee, and (3) Reports to an Administrative Post Office. r. Part-Time Post Office (PTPO) — a Post Office that:
(1) Offers part-time window service hours, (2) Is staffed by a Postal Service employee, and (3) Reports to a district office. s. Administrative Post Office — a Post Office that has administrative control of or responsibility for:
(1) A contractor-operated retail facility, (2) A classified station or branch, or (3) Another Post Office.

Note: Unless otherwise specified, all references to “Post Office” include RMPOs and PTPOs.